A Trip into Town
by jon1305
Summary: Spring has arrived in Emelka, and so has the spring sale, bringing the townsfolk out of hibernation. Alibert has some plans for major renovation to do for the boys' bedroom and asks Ruel if he could take Chibi and Grougal into town for the day. While in town, things don't exactly go as planned...


**A Trip into Town**

Chapter One:

Spring was always a wonderful time in the country town of Emelka. Since their crops had been harvested months prior, and the restless harsh winter winds prohibiting anything to grow, the town's farmers would all stay inside their warm bungalows huddled up next to the fireplace making talk of the plans for the next year's harvest. But as the hard frozen ground thawed, the towns folk would emerge from their houses to bask in the warm glow of the sun. Life seemed to jump back into full swing as soon as the last traces of winter were swept up in the breeze, and taken to lands far away.

Townsfolk often used the first few days of Spring to do major cleanings of their household goods. With piles of stuff left in peoples' attics, there were more knickknacks than people knew what to do with. One year the mayor of Emelka decided to open the bazaar to the citizens and hold a town-wide sale. People would fill up the wooden stalls with their old hand-me-downs and barter for a few extra coins to help this year's harvest off to a good start.

The sound of chattering from the crowds echoed across the valley, letting all near know that the bazaar was open, and packed. Each year the sale would get bigger and bigger. One by one, more people would be talked into getting rid of that cloak they never wore, or the hand-sewn gift from a relative. The stalls were all lined up for as far as three blocks, and managed by energetic townsfolk willing to earn a tiny stipend for their second-hand goods.

At the end of the street was a single empty stall adorned with a small 'Reserved' sign. The busy town-goers all knew who this one stall belonged to. For many years before, the stall would stay empty in the hopes that it's reserved owner would join in the festivities of the town. The word on the street was that this would be the year that the inn-keeper's stall would be filled.

On top of a nearby hill, adorned with the town's most iconic tourist destination, was The Rusty Gobball; an inn that every person in Emelka knew all too well. For years, the owner had struggled to juggle both the running of the whole inn, and taking care of his adopted son. Many of the guests knew little Yugo and watched him grow up to being the "best-est little helping hands", as the Enutrof owner would put it. One long adventure, and many years later, Alibert now had four adopted sons; although they weren't the most normal children, Alibert still loved them as his own.

The two eldest, now nineteen, were the dragon/eliatrope twins Yugo and Adamai. The story behind their race was a mystery to the frequent customers. But whenever anyone asked where they came from, Alibert would give them a vague answer or divert the question entirely. The guests eventually stopped asking, and went along with it. Ever since Yugo could walk, he wanted to help his father run the inn in any way he could. Thankfully, the two boys were exactly the right amount of help that Alibert needed to keep both the inn, and his own sanity in balance.

The two younger boys, who both were very eager to be celebrating their eighth birthday one week from now, were also dragon/eliatrope twins. Grougal and Chibi looked up to their older brothers very much, and wanted to help in any way they could. Due to their small statures, their help was limited to cleaning and washing dishes; and on very rare occasions, help serve larger tables by carrying a single plate or two drinks. Yugo would praise them for helping as much as they could, and would often forgo using his portals just to let Grougal and Chibi help out. Whenever there was a slower time for the restaurant, Alibert would have all of the boys studying books on Math, History, or English; the latter giving Grougal more than his fair share of trouble.

With more than enough helping hands around the inn, Alibert decided that this would be the year he'd do a bit of renovation to the boy's bedroom. Seeing how they enjoyed living in the same room instead of sleeping in separate ones, he wanted to add about ten extra feet to the back wall. With seeing how fast Chibi and Grougal were growing, he knew this would be needed in a few short years from now. The first step however was to clear some room in the attic space above the boys' room.

As soon as the breakfast rush was through, Alibert made his way up to the attic where he had boxed a good portion of the clutter to help in the transport down to his stall in the town square. With a little help from Yugo's portals, they were able to free up the space with little interruption. One of the boxes however found its way to the boys' room where two pairs of hands rummaged through the tightly packed contents, spilling most of it around the room.

Alibert noticed the box missing and went looking for Yugo, wondering if he had already taken it down. Walking through the hallway, he could hear clanging and laughter coming from the bedroom. Already certain that the two younger boys weren't going to be able to concentrate on studying with the hype of the town sale going on, he had hoped that they wouldn't be a hindrance to the renovations. With minimal distractions, and help from Adamai's strength as well as Yugo's portals, he felt confident in how he could be done with the most of this project by nightfall; the whole thing taking about two days. However, with the two younger boys not having major rolls in either the sale, or the renovations, he prayed that their distractions would be kept to a minimum.

"What are you two boys laughing about," Alibert asked rounding the doorway into their room. He saw Grougal on the floor next to a pile a smaller building-blocks, currently stacked in the shape of a half destroyed castle. Sticking out of the top of the box were two little legs flailing about, making it look like Chibi had dove head-first into the clutter. Alibert sighed walking towards the box, grabbed the back of the tiny brown pants, and lifted Chibi up with ease.

Grougal looked up at his brother, and started laughing. Chibi had dawned his older Hollow's Eve mask of a gnome. Alibert remembered that the boys went as gnomes back when they were only five. The mask, along with a pile of their toys that they told their dad "were for babies" had been in the attic for a while.

"Very funny little gobball…" Alibert said with a laugh, putting the mask back in the box, and letting Chibi down onto the floor. "But you know this stuff is all for sale. You guys know my rule about getting rid of all of this junk."

"If we haven't touched it in a year, then it's not staying here," the boys said together. Alibert often made up rhymes to help the boys remember the rules. It worked amazingly for when Yugo and Adamai were younger, and was pleased to see it work just as well for Chibi and Grougal.

Grougal started collecting the blocks asking "But papa, some of this stuff is cool. What if we don't want to get rid of it?" He put the toys back in the crate, and stood next to Chibi.

"Some of this stuff may look cool now, but I promise you that in a week, it'll be pushed aside and forgotten. Plus, we're trying to make more room, not less." Alibert said putting the lid back on the box and pushing it towards the door. "Now you boys know that you don't have to study today, but you can't be in the way when we start building."

Looking slightly confused, Grougal said "But we're gonna be helping you build…"

Alibert immediately shook his head "No you boys can't. It'll be far too dangerous around the renovations. You might fall out the window, or get hit by falling planks, or even spill the nails all over the floor. Also, everything will be way too heavy for you to help anyways."

"That's not fair! We help downstairs all the time. Plus, this is our room. We want to be a part of the building!" Chibi spoke up.

"This is different from helping around the dining room. I've made up my mind about this. I cannot risk your guys' safety." Alibert knew from the start of his renovation planning that he would run into this exact moment. He had just hoped the two younger boys would be running around the bazaar, or wanting to play outside.

"That's taur-spit! We want to help!' Grougal said, crossing his arms.

"Grougaloragran! Don't you ever speak like that! That's not a nice thing to say," Alibert quickly responded to the very near-cursing. He never wanted them to learn terms like that, but whenever the Percidals would visit, they would always hear a new word or two. Eva had talked to her husband about his language near the children, but there was always that one that just seemed to slip from his mouth before thinking about it.

The raised voice caught the boys off guard, and had them forming tears in their eyes. Alibert really didn't like raising his voice at any of his sons, but his standing on bad language was unmoving. "Sorry papa…" Grougal said lowering his gaze to the floor. Chibi also looking saddened, walked towards this father with open arms.

Alibert sighed, made his way to the two of them, and scooped them up in a big hug. "I'm sorry too. But I can't have you help out here. It's just not safe. I do have a plan if you're willing to hear it." The boys sniffled, and rubbed their eyes, looking up at their father. "How about this? Today, you guys can take some of your allowance and go through the town sale, and buy whatever you guys like. And when you're done with that, Uncle Ruel promised to take you two into the city to see a museum and get some Amakna hotdogs. Sound like a fun day?"

The news of a trip into town instantly changed the kids' mood brighter. With very few days free, Alibert never had the time to plan trips into the city. He was just thankful that this trip would help keep the smaller ones out of the way, and help Ruel pay off some of his tab that he'd accrued over the years. Both of the boys responded by nodding their heads and smiling.

"Alright then," Alibert said putting them down, and reaching for an envelope in his pocket. "Here's twenty kamas each. Use it on whatever you guys like. But if you can't find anything, then I'm sure Uncle Ruel could stop by a toy store in Amakna. So keep that in mind." Alibert is usually the one who handled the money. However, he felt this would be a great exercise for teaching the kids how money is handled. "One last thing; Stay together. Do not leave each other's sight. Understand?"

"Yes papa, thank you so much!" The boys said jumping at their dad and squeezed him tightly, before running around the crate, through the doorway, and down the hall.

Alibert was relieved to see them smiling once more. As soon as he gets this last crate down to the stall, he can start moving the supplies into place for the build. With any luck, he prayed, they wouldn't run into any problems.

 **Author's Note:**  
At it again! I'm using a new program for my writing and proofreading, in hopes that I can give you all better quality stories. I want to stick with Wakfu for now, but a few requests came in for me to work on a couple other project-subjects. I might very well start on another fandom, but with season three right around the corner, that might be a bit further down the road. If you have any comments or questions, PLEASE don't hesitate to send them my way. I love hearing feedback on all of my stories. And if this gets enough feedback, I'll continue it further than the few chapters I have planned.

Setting and Characters belong to Ankama; Story by me.


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